Westfield Athenaeum Library

Lecture Series

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2010 Spring Lecture Series

Lectures take place on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. in the Lang Auditorium, unless otherwise noted. Suggested donation: $5.00 per person per lecture.


February 3    Picturing America, with Dr. Elizabeth Sharpe, in conjunction with the Picturing America series exhibit in the Rand Art Museum during February. Funding for this exhibit was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities (http://picturingamerica.neh.gov), whose aim with this project was to bring high-quality reproductions of notable American art into public and private schools, libraries, and communities.

February 24    Tumultuous Affairs: Uncertain Politics and Unlikely Romance During a Turbulent Time, 1964 – 1975, by former TV broadcast journalist Durham Caldwell, from Springfield. Book signing to follow.


March

March 3      An Open Forum with Westfield Mayor Dan Knapik. Come and hear Mayor Knapik’s vision for Westfield and ask him questions about plans for downtown Westfield, future development throughout the City and plans to make Westfield a college town.

March 24      Lieutenant Richard Falley’s Life in Westfield: 1760 – 1810, with Dennis Picard, Director of Storrowton Village Museum, and Richard Colton, Historian at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, in conjunction with a display of two Falley muskets (one recently acquired and authenticated) and other material relating to Lieutenant Falley.

(WBID) and Westfield on Weekends, Inc. (WOW). Comedic relief in celebration with the end of tax season.

April 21     A Night of Poetry & Music in celebration of National Poetry Month, The Westfield Athenaeum will be presenting this fun-filled evening starting at 7:00 p.m. in the Florence Rand Lang auditorium. Lori Desrosiers, an Assistant Professor of English at Westfield State College, and local poet, is helping coordinate the event.

Three winners in the Connecticut Poetry Circuit’s annual poetry contest will read their poems at the event and two musicians/poets from Westfield State College will be appearing to play musical interludes and to read some of their poems.

May

May 12 At the Altar of the Bottom Line: The Degradation of Work in the 21st Century

Dr. Tom Juravich, Professor of Labor Studies at the UMass Labor Center, will be speaking about his newest book and CD, At the Altar of the Bottom Line:the Degradation of Work in the 21st Century. Iin conjunction with the exhibit of posters from around the world promoting worker rights called "The Peace Dove," which will be
in the Jasper Rand Art Museum during the month of May.

May 19       Poetry readings with the winners of the Annual Adult Poetry Contest.

June

June 2        The Two Roberts: Dramatic readings from Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters and The Bald Soprano by Eugene Ionesco, featuring local actors Bob Lehan, Bob Plasse as well as Carol Palmer, Rocke Palmer, Kathi Palmer, Chuck Weston and Chris Lindquist.
.

June 16       Too Human: A Celebration of Song – The American Songbook and Beyond. Jazz duo singer/songwriters Ellen Schwartz and Roger Bruno. they cover jazz standards from the American Songbook, but with a fresh interpretation that brings new life to those classic songs. And their songwriting influences are Paul Simon, Smokey Robinson, Joni Mitchell, Buck Owens, Duke Ellington, Thom Bell, Carole King, Cole Porter and the Gershwins - from jazz and blues to pop to R&B. With vocals, guitar, percussion and, on occasion, upright bass they have a jazzy / bluesy feel with a lot of heart. Ellen's earthy voice combines perfectly with Roger's unusual percussion style and stirring vocals. Sweet harmonies, unusual arrangements and Roger's famous mouth trombone are the musical elements that frame their performance. But what drives their work is their on-stage chemistry. High quality musicianship with humor and passion, totally in sync with each other, they create a strong and intimate atmosphere. Check out their music at their website.

Fall 2010 Lecture Series

The Lecture Series is funded in part by Friends of the Westfield Athenaeum